Aggregated enterprise architecture wisdom
In this blog, we will show you how the new ArchiMate 3.0 concepts for modeling the physical world can be used to describe the domains of manufacturing and logistics. We will do this by using one of the common ArchiMate case studies published by The Ope…
Three centuries ago the average life expectancy in Europe was between 33 and 40 years. Interestingly, 33 was also the average life expectancy in the Palaeolithic era, 2.6 million years ago. What is that we’ve got in the last three centuries that we hadn’t got in all the time before? Well, science! Science did a […]
I should have shared this presentation in November 2015 but anyway, better late than never. Here it is as static slides… … and if your browser allows, you can play the original: Tweet This Post
In enterprise-architecture, we’ve long known about the importance of shadow-IT – the place where much of business IT-innovation comes from, yet also presents organisational risks if not managed appropriately. Yet whilst talking with Pierre [I never did catch his surname –…
Whilst I’m busy working on the latest article in the…
I had an interesting conversation recently about the use of Wardley maps as part of an Enterprise Architecture and Digital Transformation programme recently. I had looked at using Wardley maps some time ago but now I think it is a good time to incorporate their use into normal Enterprise Architecture/ Business Architecture work. They are […]
Digital strategy is not simply about marketing. It is about a better engagement with potential and existing customers. It is about the perception of the brand created with customers though close interaction via social media and close communication leading to a value proposition that can better serve their actual and future needs. As with any […]
What is the best time to plant a tree?A popular answer to this question is that the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, and the second-best time is now.This is often claimed to be an ancient Chinese proverb. Or an African proverb. It is unli…
What is the best time to plant a tree?
A popular answer to this question is that the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, and the second-best time is now.
This is often claimed to be an ancient Chinese proverb. Or an African proverb. It is unlikely to be either of these.
And obviously we are not supposed to take this proverb literally. Because if the best time was twenty years ago, the second-best time would be nineteen years ago.
But instead of interpreting this logically, we are presumably supposed to interpret it as a motivational statement. Don’t waste time regretting that you didn’t plant a tree twenty years ago, act now to make sure you don’t have similar regrets in twenty years’ time. (Do real Chinese proverbs do motivational statements? I suspect not.)
In his new book, The Inevitable, Kevin Kelly talks about the opportunities for internet entrepreneurs thirty years ago. “Can you imagine how awesome it would have been to be an ambitious entrepreneur back in 1985 at the dawn of the internet?”
He then looks forward to the middle of the century. “If we could climb into a time machine, journey 30 years into the future, and from that vantage look back to today, we’d realize that most of the greatest products running the lives of citizens in 2050 were not invented until after 2016.”
In other words, for an internet start-up the second-best time is now.
By the way, I’m not the first person to use the pun about ‘boughing’ to the inevitable. For example, @rcolvile used it in the context of ash dieback. “Half the trees in the country were going to be torn down. He’d already had to veto a particularly insensitive press release describing him as ‘ashen-faced’ about the situation, but ‘boughing to the inevitable’. Meanwhile, Google is asking me if I meant ‘coughing to the inevitable’. Thanks Google, it’s always useful to spot something you haven’t yet mastered.
KK.org, The Inevitable
Kevin Kelly, The Internet Is Still at the Beginning of Its Beginning (Huffington Post, 6 June 2016)
On The Best Time to Plant a Tree (Reddit)
Robert Colvile, Friends: The One with the Guy in a Yellow Tie (Telegraph, 3 November 2012)
In a recent article by McKinsey, they eloquently argued the importance of enterprise architecture for digital transformations. But they also provide some important criticism of the state of practice. To be really effective at supporting …
We’ve all heard the sayings about history repeating. Did we pay attention? Did we actually hear what was said, or were we just in the room when it was mentioned? Did we learn anything? Greger Wikstrand and I have been trading posts on innovation for more than seven months. His last post, “Black hat innovation”, […]
In a previous blog on the ‘Digital Customer Intimacy’ strategy of our example insurance company ArchiSurance, we outlined that they intend to use more detailed customer data to improve customer interaction and satisfaction, and to determine customized insurance premiums. To this end, they want to use the Internet of Things, acquiring data from smart, connected devices such as personal fitness trackers, black boxes in vehicles, home automation gateways, fleet management systems, in-store RFID devices, or smart building sensors.